Six Basic Characteristics of Automotive Molds

As the name suggests, automotive molds are mold products used to produce various parts of automobiles. Their main component is the cover mold, which is mainly a cold stamping die. The precision and quality requirements for automotive molds are very high, so special attention must be paid. So what characteristics do car molds need to have? Let's take a brief look below.

1. Wear resistance.

When the billet undergoes plastic deformation in the cavity of the automobile mold, it flows and slides along the surface of the cavity, causing severe friction between the cavity surface and the billet, resulting in the failure of the automobile mold due to wear. So the wear resistance of materials is one of the most fundamental and important properties of automotive molds. Hardness is the main factor affecting wear resistance. In general, the higher the hardness of automotive mold parts, the smaller the wear and tear, and the better the wear resistance. In addition, wear resistance is also related to the type, quantity, morphology, size, and distribution of carbides in the material.

2. Strong resilience.

The working conditions of automotive molds are mostly very harsh, and some often bear large impact loads, leading to brittle fracture. To prevent sudden brittle fracture of automotive mold parts during operation, automotive molds should have high strength and toughness. The toughness of automotive molds mainly depends on the carbon content, grain size, and microstructure of the material.

3. Fatigue fracture performance.

During the working process of automotive molds, long-term cyclic stress often leads to fatigue fracture. Its forms include low-energy multiple impact fatigue fracture, tensile fatigue fracture, contact fatigue fracture, and bending fatigue fracture. The fatigue fracture performance of automotive molds mainly depends on their strength, toughness, hardness, and the content of inclusions in the material.

4. High temperature performance.

When the working temperature of the car mold is high, it will cause a decrease in hardness and strength, leading to early wear or plastic deformation of the car mold and failure. Therefore, automotive mold materials should have high resistance to tempering stability to ensure that automotive molds have high hardness and strength at working temperatures.

5. Cold and hot fatigue resistance performance.

Some car molds are in a state of repeated heating and cooling during the working process, causing the surface of the mold cavity to be subjected to tensile and compressive stress, resulting in surface cracking and peeling, increasing friction, hindering plastic deformation, reducing dimensional accuracy, and leading to the failure of car molds. Cold and hot fatigue is one of the main forms of failure in hot work automotive molds, and such molds should have high resistance to cold and hot fatigue.

6. Corrosion resistance.

Some car molds, such as plastic molds, contain elements such as chlorine and fluorine during operation. When heated, they decompose and release highly corrosive gases such as HCI and HF, which corrode the surface of the car mold cavity, increase its surface roughness, and exacerbate wear and failure.